TikTok user @CelesteNelsonRaba got a surprise visitor to her home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Tuesday evening with a most unwelcome bit of news.
Saying only he was “with the sheriff’s office,” a deputy dressed in uniform asks her if the blue Jeep in the driveway belongs to her.
Once confirmed, the deputy tells the woman he watched her drive through two red lights, the first time at “a high rate of speed.” The alleged violations occurred more than three hours earlier when the officer was off-duty and driving his personal vehicle.
Now on the clock, the deputy, who followed the woman home, was back to issue citations for offenses allegedly committed hours earlier.
“You didn’t pull me over at 6 p.m. you waited three hours,” said the woman, incredulous.”
@fortheloveofparrots over stepping much…. a traffic violation 3 hours later with no proof of a crime…..
♬ original sound – @CelesteNelsonRaba
The officer said his duties “extend through all that.”
Is he right?
Legally, yes. Though extremely unusual, officers “typically carry their police powers 24 hours a day in their jurisdiction, whether they’re on the job or not,” University of Missouri-St. Louis criminology professor David Klinger told Think Progress in 2014.
“If you’re a police officer and you see something that is either illegal or could be illegal, you have lawful authority to make an inquiry,” he said, adding that the scope of the incident is irrelevant.
@fortheloveofparrots part 2 issue a citation 🤣🤣 to who?
♬ original sound – @CelesteNelsonRaba
When the deputy asks the woman if she’d come out and talk to him, she refuses, within her rights.
“Our day starts at 3:30 in the morning,” she tells the officer. “We’re in bed.”
The deputy then informs her he will mail the citation.
@fortheloveofparrots ♬ original sound – @CelesteNelsonRaba
“The good thing is this entire conversation is recorded,” the woman said. “I’ll have it when we go to court. You have no idea who I am. Nor is it any of your business.”
The deputy returned to Nelson-Raba’s home and examined her jeep in the driveway. She believes he was looking for her vehicle identification number.
Viewers were nearly unanimous in their condemnation of the cop.
“He was a hall monitor in school,” writes one. “The ultimate power trip dude thinks he’s Batman or something when he’s really just harassing these (people),” commented another.
Overstepping, perhaps, but the law allows off-duty officers to arrest people, use force, and, yes, issue traffic citations.
